The head of the Anglican Church, on a historic visit to the Vatican. The major “disagreements” in the relationship with Catholics

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, the first woman to become the spiritual leader of the Anglicans, begins on Saturday a four-day visit to Rome and the Vatican, where she is to be received by Pope Leo XIV, reports AFP, taken over by Agerpres.

Sarah Mullally, on her first trip abroad since taking the throne a month ago, will meet the leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics on Monday morning.

This audience with Pope Leo XIV takes place 60 years after a historic meeting, in 1966, between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI, the first of this level since the establishment of the Anglican Church in the 16th century, after the break with King Henry VIII of Rome.

Women's priesthood, a major disagreement

Relations between the two churches have steadily improved since then, even though in 2016 their successors signaled “new disagreements”, particularly over the ordination of women – making Sarah Mullally's visit an important moment.

A 63-year-old former nurse, married and mother of two, Sarah Mullally is the first woman to become the highest religious authority of the Church of England. The Anglican community is estimated at 85 million believers worldwide.

The first female Anglican bishops were appointed in the United States in 1989, and in the Anglican Church their existence has been permitted since 2014, although the issue continues to be a source of division.

In contrast, the Catholic Church has repeatedly rejected the idea of ​​women priests, while male priests cannot marry – except for married Anglican priests who wish to convert.

Women's rights activists, who hoped for progress under former Pope Francis, who died last year, believe Sarah Mullally's visit could change the situation.

“If a female archbishop comes to see him, maybe this will make Pope Leo XIV reflect a little,” Sylvaine Landrivon, spokeswoman for the Catholic feminist association Magdala, told AFP.

He “will realize that women, who represent half of God's people, have the same competencies as men,” she added.

Opportunity for a personal relationship

The visit, during which Sarah Mullally will also meet members of the Catholic community, comes six months after King Charles III became the first supreme governor of the Church of England to pray with a pope.

In a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the occasion of his enthronement, Pope Leo XIV – who became pope on May 8, 2025 – expressed his hope for a “reconciled, fraternal and united Christian community”.

Bishop Anthony Ball, the archbishop's representative to the Holy See, emphasized to AFP that this meeting is “an important opportunity to build and establish a personal relationship”, as well as to strengthen institutional ties.

Sarah Mullally hailed the pope's “courageous appeal” for peace earlier this month after US President Donald Trump vehemently criticized the pontiff's calls to end the war in the Middle East.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the pope face many common challenges, according to Anthony Ball, from pressing social issues such as immigration, poverty, war and the environment to how to address young people.

Both Churches have also been rocked by revelations of cover-up sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy.

Two churches with internal divisions

At the same time, their internal unity is put to the test, in a context of tensions between the conservative and progressive factions on topics such as the liturgy, marriage between people of the same sex and the celibacy of priests, notes AFP.

The appointment of Sarah Mullally has deeply divided the Anglican community, both because she is a woman and because of her position in favor of same-sex marriage.

Anthony Ball expects Pope Leo XIV to be “respectful” about the appointment of Sarah Mullally as archbishop and that the latter will not insist on the issue of women in the Church. “He already has enough work with the Anglican community,” the bishop pointed out.

For his part, Pope Leo XIV inherited from Pope Francis a Church divided on the topic of great societal challenges. During his 12-year pontificate, the charismatic Argentine reformer often irritated traditionalists, especially in the United States and Africa, with his efforts to have a more open Catholic Church.